The Delinquent Transformation of Yuki Nagato
by Midori12
Summary: "Yuki, why are you so boring?" said Haruhi, not realizing that the next day she would transform Nagato to be the complete opposite! Now it's up to Kyon to figure out a way to change Nagato back to normal before she stirs up too much trouble! Set in November, before the events of the Disappearance. On hiatus
1. The Changes of Yuki Nagato

**So here's a story idea that randomly spurred into my head while reading **_**The Rampage of Haruhi Suzumiya**_**. I thought, "What if Yuki did get tired of putting up with Haruhi's crap? I mean, the Endless Eight would have made me want to ring her neck!" and…this story was born. Enjoy my new take on the quiet Yuki Nagato!**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter One: The Changes of Yuki Nagato<strong>

"Yuki, why are you so boring?"

"…" the short-haired alien glanced up from her book to eye Haruhi Suzumiya, who was suddenly questioning her personality. Kyon looked over from his game of Othello against Itsuki Koizumi to make a face at Haruhi. Mikuru Asahina stopped pouring Kyon tea and closed the lid of the teapot.

"I mean, you never say anything. Ever," Haruhi shook her head in disapproval. "That's no good."

"What the hell kind of thing is that to say about someone?" Kyon said, defending Yuki Nagato, the quiet, book-loving member of the SOS Brigade.

"I can say whatever I want. Don't go against me," Haruhi remarked.

"I'm not," Kyon countered. "I'm just saying you shouldn't judge Nagato as being boring just because she doesn't talk. She still hangs out with us and does whatever you tell her to. What does it matter if she talks or not?"

"Because she needs to talk more! If I ask her a question, she should respond! If I ask her to do something for me, she should respond!"

"What? That's stupid. If you ask her to do something, wouldn't it be better for you if she just does it instead of respond to it and say something? What if she disagreed with your request and didn't want to do it? Then you'd be pissed."

"No, everyone always does what I say. It'd be more fun if someone tried to go against me. It'd be like a challenge. Challenges are fun!"

"…Nothing you say is making any sense…" Kyon decided to give up and go back to his game with Koizumi. He trapped one of Koizumi's pieces and flipped over the captured pieces. "Your move."

"Don't ignore me!" Haruhi suddenly slammed her fist on the table, causing some of the pieces to fall off the board. Kyon twitched his eyebrow.

"I think Yuki needs to talk more. And that's the way it should be!" Haruhi spun to face Nagato again. "Say something!"

Nagato paused before opening her mouth to say, "Something."

"There you go! See, it's not that hard!"

Kyon didn't understand how Haruhi could get so excited over getting Nagato to talk. Sure, you'd be lucky to ever hear any words of Nagato's to run through your ears, but if you forced her to say something it just wasn't the same as her speaking on her own.

"Say 'Haruhi Suzumiya is an awesome Brigade Chief!'"

"Haruhi Suzumiya is an awesome Brigade Chief."

"Thanks for saying so, Yuki!" Haruhi clapped.

Kyon was starting to feel disgusted with Haruhi's taking advantage of Nagato by forcing her to say things that weren't necessarily true (Kyon wasn't for sure what the Brigade Chief's purpose even was, so who knows if Haruhi was doing a good job at it). Of course Nagato was going to do whatever Haruhi asked. Haruhi was Haruhi, and she always got her way. If she didn't, she would change her surroundings as she saw fit and that would be that, even if it was possibly at the misfortune of others. It wasn't fair.

"Stop," Kyon said simply. Haruhi almost blew up.

"Shut up! If I want Yuki to be my puppet, then Yuki shall be my puppet!"

This was almost the same as when Haruhi would force Asahina into random costumes, then expose her in these costumes to the public whether Asahina liked it or not. Kyon was tired of it.

"Just stop already, okay. Nagato's a human," Kyon knew that was false, but Haruhi didn't, "just like everyone else. She's not a toy for you to play with. Just leave her be."

Haruhi puffed up her cheeks like a little kid not getting her way. "Fine! I'm done!" Haruhi quickly gathered her schoolbag and flew out the clubroom door, slamming it so hard that more pieces from the Othello board fell off.

"Whatever," Kyon said, picking up the fallen pieces.

"I don't think that was a good idea," Koizumi said, actually not smiling that plastic smile of his for once.

"Can it," Kyon didn't care what he had to say. "I'm not going to just sit here and let Haruhi get what she wants all the damn time. She needs to learn that she can't have everything she wants in life and to at least have a little respect for others. Life shouldn't revolve around her because she says for it to."

"But Kyon-"

"I don't care if she's God or whatever else you guys claim her to be, to me she's obnoxious Haruhi and I will treat her as such. I don't like to sit here and watch her push Asahina around," even if Kyon liked the costumes Haruhi forced her in, but there was no point in mentioning that now, "and treat Nagato as if she's a doll you record a message in and then play it back." Kyon put up the Othello game and grabbed his schoolbag. "I'm out," he said as he left the clubroom, not caring to hear any other objections to his actions.

He was right, after all. Haruhi should stop acting like a kid and learn to grow up. Didn't her parents teach her manners?

Whatever. Kyon just wanted to go home, relax, and return to school tomorrow hoping that Haruhi had gone through an attitude adjustment and would apologize for her rashness…

Kyon almost burst out laughing at his own thoughts. Yeah, right. Like that would happen. He would return to school tomorrow and Haruhi would be the same as always.

But…it wasn't Haruhi's attitude that he needed to worry about…

* * *

><p>The next day went on like normal. Haruhi acted the same way she always did, as Kyon predicted. She went off on him in the morning about how he should never go against her wishes then proceeded to tell Kyon that <em>he <em>should be the one to apologize. He told her no and that she shouldn't treat Nagato like that again. After some huffing and puffing, Haruhi just dropped the issue and went about her life. The world kept turning and everything went on as it always did.

Then it was time for the club's usual meetings in the SOS Brigade room. Kyon and Haruhi walked there together in near silence, the former being surprised that the latter hadn't suddenly jumped up and rung his throat for no reason. You never really know what to expect with Haruhi.

But when Kyon opened the door to the clubroom, _this _definitely wasn't something he had ever expected, even with Haruhi supposedly being able to change things as she saw fit.

"Look who decided to finally show up. You're the leader and yet you're always late. What kind of leader are you to keep us waiting?"

Kyon stared in shock, noting that neither Koizumi nor Asahina had opened their mouths. And Haruhi was standing next to him, looking just as shocked as he was.

Nagato was standing by the window with her arms crossed, a stern look of what looked like disgust on her face.

She was the one who spoke.

* * *

><p><strong>I love Nagato and I'd like to see a world where she's a little different (besides in <strong>_**The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya)**_**. ****Maybe not with this personality, but this will be so much more fun to write!**

**~Midori**


	2. The Fascination of Haruhi Suzumiya

**Chapter Two: The Fascination of Haruhi Suzumiya**

"What the hell are you staring at?" Nagato spoke again, obviously not in the organic tone everyone was used to when she did choose to speak. Her movements were definitely not robotic, either. She unfolded her arms and put her hands to her hips. "Are we gonna start the meeting or what? I don't have all day to be wasting with you people."

Kyon was still staring in shock. He couldn't believe what he was seeing, or what he was hearing. He was about to ask Haruhi to punch him to see if he was sleeping but suddenly decided against it before the words left his mouth; if he asked Haruhi to hit him, he would probably end up with broken bones. He really didn't want to take a hospital visit right now.

But what the hell was up with Nagato? The only reason for someone to not be able to tell that Nagato was different was if they were blind _and _deaf, and Kyon was pretty sure no one in this school was just that. Has she been acting like this all day?

Then Kyon realized that Haruhi hadn't reacted yet. Was Haruhi going to take that kind of tone from one of her Brigade members? Actually, would Haruhi take that tone of voice from _anyone_?

"Oh my God, Yuki! What happened to you?" Haruhi first asked, then she quickly shook her head before Nagato could answer…y'know, if Nagato felt like answering anyway. "No, never mind that. Whatever happened, it's awesome! Who knew you could become a completely different person overnight? You must have worked hard to impress me!"

"What? I'm not a circus act, you freak," Nagato snidely remarked. "If you don't have anything meaningful to say, I'm out of here. No point in me being here if you're just going to belittle me."

"Ohh, feisty!" Haruhi turned to Kyon. "Kyon, I like this Yuki way better than the boring Yuki." She flashed Kyon a bright smile. How could she stand being talked to like that?

Koizumi and Asahina still had yet to say anything. But Asahina was in her school uniform instead of changing to her usual maid attire and Koizumi wasn't smiling like always.

Yeah, this was bad.

"This will make things much more interesting!" Haruhi walked over to Nagato and grabbed her shoulders from behind. "Come on, Yuki, sit down! I'll start the meeting now!"

"Don't touch me," Nagato shrugged Haruhi off and sat down in the chair next to Koizumi, not in her usual seat in the corner by the window. She wasn't sitting in the chair normally, either; she flipped the chair backwards and spread out her legs, most definitely not lady-like. "What do you have to say?"

"Well," Haruhi started. Kyon finally moved his legs to enter the room and sat down next to Asahina at the table. "It's November now. It's starting to cool down and soon enough it will start snowing. When that happens, do you know what is rumored to come out?"

"Let me guess…" Nagato said, "some mythical creature that doesn't exist?"

"No, the Abominable Snowman!" Haruhi raised her arms. "It does too exist!"

Nagato rolled her eyes. "Boring…"

"When it starts snowing—hopefully we'll get, like, a blizzard or something—there's a forest near the mountainous area up north where it's been rumored to roam in the winter! We're going to seek it out!"

"Are you serious?" Nagato asked, not so much a question as a 'what the hell are you thinking?' type statement. "You're gonna have us go out in the cold, freezing weather to look for some dumb walking snowman?"

"No, it's not a snowman, that's just what it's called because it comes out when there's a lot of snow. They say that a Hibagon, a creature more popular in Japan, originates somewhere near Hiroshima, but that's far away. But I've heard rumors recently that a creature similar to the Abominable Snowman has been spotted close to here, just a little north of us!"

"Where did you hear these rumors?" Kyon asked.

"I have my sources," Haruhi said. "Does that really matter?"

"Yeah, I think it does," Nagato commented. "You could just have us running in circles just because you believe some stupid rumors."

"They're not stupid. I'm sure they're real, and we're gonna go prove it," Haruhi pounded her fist on the table. "That's final!"

Nagato huffed. "Whatever. Are you done spouting nonsense? I'm ready to go home." She got up from her chair and reached for her schoolbag.

"Wait, Yuki!" Haruhi snatched up Nagato's schoolbag. "I still wanna talk to you! Not about the Snowman, but about how you went through this amazing transformation! You definitely aren't boring anymore! I love it!"

"Give me my schoolbag. Maybe I'm done listening to your mouth," Nagato said sharply.

"No, no, it's fine, Yuki," Haruhi grabbed her own bag and returned Nagato's to her. "Meeting's over guys! You can all go home now!" she addressed to the rest of the members of the SOS Brigade.

"That's what I'm trying to do," Nagato remarked.

"Let's go, Yuki!" Haruhi opened the door and walked out with Nagato, who was doing her best to ignore Haruhi. "So are these just pent up emotions you haven't been able to express since April?"

"Shut up," was the last thing the other three club members heard from Nagato before their voices became distant.

Kyon broke the awkward silence first. "What in the _hell_ was that?"

Koizumi and Asahina exchanged quick glances as if to see who would speak first. Koizumi took that duty. "Yuki Nagato has had her personality altered to match those of Suzumiya's desires."

"What? You mean that whole ordeal with Haruhi calling Nagato boring yesterday caused Haruhi to just _change _Nagato overnight into…whatever _that _was?" Kyon was still trying to wrap his head around it.

"It would seem so."

"Since when can Haruhi start altering people's personalities to whatever she wants them to be?" Kyon asked. "Is that even possible?"

"Nagato exists because Suzumiya wished for there to be aliens. Though the Data Overmind created Nagato for the purpose of observing Suzumiya, that doesn't stop Suzumiya from being able to overwrite her personality to how she sees fit."

"Fit? I wouldn't mind if Nagato would talk a little more, but this is just outrageous," Kyon remarked. "Does that mean she can do the same thing to the three of us as well?"

"It's possible. This is a power we didn't know Suzumiya had previous to this incident," Koizumi explained, "but I guess Suzumiya took notice to Nagato's dull-seeming appearance and wished for it to be different."

"And here we are. Nagato may actually have a worse personality than Haruhi. And that's saying something," Kyon didn't know it was possible. "We have to fix this."

"I know," Koizumi agreed. "Nagato is acting out of character and we're not even sure about the actions of the Data Overmind, if they're allowing this or if they're trying to fix it themselves. We're also not sure if Nagato still realizes her purpose assigned to her by the Data Overmind, or even if she knows she's an alien."

Kyon took the 'we' in Koizumi's explanation to mean The Agency he works for. What about Asahina? What did she think about all this?

"Um, it is quite bizarre…" she finally spoke up. "She's a vital member to our team. I just hope we fix this as soon as possible before she…" Asahina didn't finish her sentence, which led Kyon to try to finish it. If Nagato continues to act like this, not just to Haruhi but to anyone, she could get herself into trouble. And worse, what if she did know of her purpose to observe Haruhi? Was she abusing it by not staying silent? What if she ended up going against the rules and told Haruhi about her powers? What if Nagato used her powers herself for purposes besides preventing Haruhi from going on a power-hungry spree?

Would the Data Overmind just erase the existence of Yuki Nagato?

Kyon wouldn't accept that.

"We have to figure out what's going on," Kyon said. "This is important."

"I'm glad you realize this," Koizumi scratched the back of his head, "but we need to figure out how to go about this situtaion first."

"Are you kidding?" Kyon yelled in obvious disagreement. "We don't have time or that! I say we just approach Nagato and ask her if she knows about the Data Overmind and her being an alien."

"That could be a dangerous move."

"She could be a danger to all of us, or more importantly, herself! There shouldn't be much harm in just asking. You do what you want to, but I have to at least try. I'm not just going to sit around when something can be done," Kyon rose up out of his chair and threw his schoolbag over his shoulder. "Okay?"

"Fine with me," Koizumi said, "but be careful. We don't want to push Nagato's buttons. She could do anything."

"I already realize that," Kyon rolled his eyes. "What about you Asahina?"

"Um, I'll help you guys in any way I can," Asahina said, a serious look on her cute face.

"Okay," Kyon smiled. "Tomorrow, I'll try talking to her. But I don't think I'll say anything until after the meeting. Just to see if we notice anything else about her."

"That seems like the best course of action," Koizumi said.

"Mmhmm," Asahina nodded her head.

"All right," Kyon turned toward the door. "I'm out. Talk to you guys later."

"Goodbye."

"'Bye, Kyon…"

Kyon made his way out of the school, still confused about what just took place. It was so strange to see Nagato with this personality. Kyon had thought he'd seen everything life had decided to throw at him in the past few months, but this was definitely a curve ball.

A curve ball he tried to dodge.

Kyon had always wondered what Nagato would be like with a more talkative personality, or maybe if she could learn to express emotions, but this was a little too much. Guess 'can't have your cake and eat it too' could apply well here.

Regardless, Kyon had to find a way to change Nagato back before Haruhi began to get irritated with her.

Or before the Data Overmind decided she was a threat and deleted her.


	3. The Irritation of Yuki Nagato

**Chapter Three: The Irritation of Yuki Nagato**

The next day…Kyon wasn't expecting to see such a scene so early in the morning. He had just walked through the school gates and saw a crowd of people congregating in front of the school. He instantly assumed it was Haruhi and Asahina passing out more flyers in their infamous bunny outfits. Kyon sighed, then realized it was too cold for that, plus they'd already gotten in trouble for it once. So maybe it wasn't the bunny suits?

No, it was something completely different. _Someone _completely different.

"What the hell are you looking at?"

Yuki Nagato.

Kyon quickly rushed through the throng of students (was that a teacher?) to see Nagato with quite the pissed-off look on her face. Three boys, who could have been on Koizumi's level of handsome, were standing adjacent to her, one of them with an odd smirk on his face.

"Come on, bad girl," the odd-smirking boy said. "I'm not too sure what happened to you, but I like this side of you! Why don't we go out?" The other two boys behind him began snickering, making it hard to tell if the odd-smirking boy was being serious or if it was some kind of joke.

"Whatever. Why the hell would I want to go out with a clown like you?" Nagato replied. A few "oohh's" rang through the crowd, and someone called out, "She told you!" The odd-smirking boy frowned. The two boys behind him were still chuckling.

"What? Clown? How dare you say that! I work hard to keep up this appearance!" the now offended boy flicked his long bangs, which just went right back into his eyes.

"Yeah, the girls swoon over you…" Nagato rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "Gross."

"Gross?"

"I'm done talking to you. Will you get the hell outta my way now?" Nagato made an attempt to walk past the odd-smirking boy, but he grabbed her wrist and stopped her.

"Maybe I'm not done talking to you!" he said.

Kyon was about to interfere when Nagato suddenly spun around, forming a V with her fingers on her opposite hand. "Maybe I am!" She threw her fingers into the boy's eyes, causing him to shriek and let Nagato go.

"Owww!" he yelled, falling to the ground and holding his hands over his face. The other two boys burst out laughing, joined by many others in the crowd of people. Kyon noticed a good few in the crowd were staring at Nagato in awe, others whispering and pointing at her.

"Stupid boy!" Nagato huffed, glaring down at him before turning and making her way out of the crowd.

"Nagato!" Kyon called out, running after her and bowling people over to get to her. Once he was out of the crowd and saw her walking toward the school's front doors, he called out again, "Nagato!"

Nagato actually stopped and turned around to face him. "Kyon? What do you want?"

Kyon felt a little intimidated by the Haruhi-like scowl on her face, but he wasn't sure if her tone matched the scowl. She didn't _sound _irritated by him, but she looked it. "A-are you okay?"

"You saw? Yeah, I'm fine," she shook the wrist that the boy had grabbed. "I'm tough."

Kyon wasn't sure what to say next. He never imagined actually have a conversation with Nagato where she responded, and with words he could understand! It was kind of weird.

"Um, okay. I'm glad you're okay."

Nagato paused before responding. "Thanks."

"Should I walk you to class?" Kyon offered.

"Don't worry about it," she shook her head. "I can manage." She then waved her hand once before turning and entering the building, leaving a still-stunned Kyon standing outside.

_Interacting with Nagato like that is so…strange, _Kyon thought. _She responds! But ignoring that…I still need to talk to her after club._

Someone suddenly patted his shoulder from behind.

"Whoa!" Kyon spun around to face the constantly-smiling face of Koizumi.

"Talking to Nagato already, are we?" Koizumi asked.

"Who is we? I'm the one who was talking to her," Kyon corrected.

"Regardless, that was quite a show, wasn't it?"

"You were watching, too?"

"Maybe. At least Nagato can still fend for herself without using tactics such as data manipulation."

"Anyone could have done that."

"Anyone who was bold enough to do so," Koizumi remarked. "Suzumiya sure has made this Nagato rash."

Kyon didn't respond and just looked back at where he last saw Nagato walking through the building.

* * *

><p>"Kyon, have you heard?"<p>

"Heard what?"

"About Yuki Nagato? Oh, wait, isn't she in your weirdo club?"

Taniguchi confronted Kyon before class began. Kyon began mentally preparing himself for any nonsense Taniguchi might start spouting.

"But, yeah, I heard she was actin' completely different! Total personality change. A quiet, reclusive girl turned outspoken, rampaging delinquent!"

"What? She's not a rampaging delinquent," Kyon countered.

"But she's outspoken! You didn't deny that."

"I don't need to deny it if it's true."

"So she is a delinquent!"

"I did not say that!"

"Wow…chicks with a bad streak about them are sexy in a way, don't you think?"

"Taniguchi, you better walk away before I take that textbook and shove it up your—"

"Kyon!" Haruhi bellowed obnoxiously when she entered the classroom. "Come here!" she demanded as she walked over to her desk.

Kyon sighed. It didn't want to just up and follow her command but he was getting tired of Taniguchi's rambling about something he heard more than likely from rumors. Sure, Nagato was different, but she wasn't a delinquent. Maybe. Regardless, he went to sit at his desk in front of Haruhi.

"What is it?"

"So I was talking with Yuki yesterday and man, she is so different than before! I think it's so awesome being friends with her!"

"I don't think Nagato thinks of you…as a friend…" At least, her tone toward Haruhi definitely didn't _suggest _that they were friends.

"Oh, no, we're best friends! She's so cool!" Haruhi seemed to seriously admire Nagato's new attitude. The only one who seemed to enjoy it.

"Um…" Kyon wasn't sure what to tell her. He had to do what he could to return Nagato back to normal, but with Haruhi so excited about Nagato's strange new personality change what would Haruhi do if Nagato returned to her usual, quiet nature? "Haruhi…?"

"Not just that, but I can't wait until it snows so we can head up to that forest up north and search for the Abominable Snowman! Aren't you excited?"

No, Kyon wasn't. "Um, well…"

Haruhi continued, "Ohh! It needs to snow now!" She balled her hands into fists and began shaking them uncontrollably. "Snow!"

_Don't say that. It will probably happen, _Kyon frowned. He wanted to ask God not to let a sudden blizzard hit, but then remembered that, by Koizumi's words, Haruhi _was _God herself. Anything Haruhi wanted Haruhi got.

Kyon sighed.

* * *

><p>After school. No dark clouds yet. Keyword, <em>yet<em>.

Koizumi and Kyon were seated as usual across the table from one another with a deck of cards between them. Asahina was preparing coffee, but for the second day in a row she wasn't sporting her usual maid uniform. Probably because Haruhi was so focused on everything Nagato did to even notice any of the other club members.

But…Nagato wasn't doing anything. She sat in her chair by the window with her legs crossed and arms folded, just staring at Kyon and Koizumi's card game. Who knows if she was really paying close attention or not, but Haruhi didn't care. She just kept gazing at Nagato from her seat at the computer desk. Nagato finally turned her head to face Haruhi, then scrunched her face.

"What the hell do you keep staring at me for? Are you waiting for me to do a trick? I'm not here for your entertainment," Nagato said.

"I'm just fascinated with you!" Haruhi announced. Nagato raised her eyebrow.

"You are one weird son of a—"

"N-Nagato!" Asahina suddenly blurted out. "W-would you like some tea?"

Nagato directed her attention to Asahina. "Sure."

Asahina gathered the teapot and poured her cup full of the warm tea. "H-here!" She carefully handed the cup to her. When Nagato reached for the tea, she noticed Asahina's hand shaking; she looked like she was about to drop the cup.

"What's wrong with you? Are you intimidated by me or something? I don't bite as long as you don't piss me off," Nagato quickly grabbed the tea, saving Asahina from potentially dropping it on herself. Or Nagato.

"U-um…" Nagato was right, Asahina was intimidated. This Nagato was even scarier than Haruhi on a bad day. Maybe. One of Haruhi's bad days could result in the world ending.

But from what Kyon knew, Nagato had some crazy powers of her own. He wasn't sure if there was anything Nagato _couldn't _do.

"Argh!" Haruhi grunted randomly. She was now looking out the window. "It needs to snow soon!"

* * *

><p>After club. Kyon hoped those weren't clouds holding precipitation…<p>

Haruhi, after staring at Nagato and the sky for another half an hour, finally ended the meeting. She said she wanted to walk out with Nagato, but the latter suddenly said:

"I need to talk to Mikuru."

Asahina had flinched, but Nagato had instantly turned her head away from Haruhi's view and put her finger over her lips.

Haruhi shrugged it off and told her she'd see her tomorrow. She then trotted off.

"Kyon, I know you want to talk to me. Or one of you does," Nagato pointed to each of the remaining members.

"You didn't need to talk to me?" Asahina questioned.

"Of course not. I only said it to get Haruhi off my back. If I would have said I needed to talk to Kyon, she would have questioned my intentions. I really didn't need that right now. I'm tired of dealing with her right now. I'm surprised I haven't punched her yet."

Asahina and Koizumi gasped. "Nagato!" Koizumi exclaimed. "You can't—!"

"Koizumi," Kyon held up his hand to quiet him. "I've got this. Nagato, I do need to talk to you."

Nagato actually smirked, something that terrified Kyon more than when she had the scowl on her face. "Okay, then. Let's talk."

"Koizumi? Asahina?" Kyon held out his hand.

Koizumi nodded. "We'll talk with you." Asahina nodded with him.

"Let's go back in the clubroom."

* * *

><p>"So, Nagato…" Kyon slowly began. He was thinking about which question would be best to ask first. But, how was it that Nagato knew that he wanted to talk to her? Could she read minds now?<p>

…Was she reading his mind now?

Nagato didn't respond. Guess not.

"Nagato," Koizumi suddenly spoke. "I think we should begin by asking if you know of you…being an alien," he cautiously asked.

Nagato smirked again and shrugged. "Alien? Maybe, maybe not."

"That means yes," Kyon said. "If you're not laughing at how stupid we sound for asking that, then you must know that you're an alien. And that—"

"Itsuki's an esper, Mikuru's a time traveler. Haruhi is…whatever the hell she is. Yeah, yeah, I got it." Nagato waved her hand. That smirk definitely didn't suit her.

"So, you know your purpose with the Data Overmind?" Koizumi asked.

"Of course. 'To observe Haruhi Suzumiya', blah, blah, some more bullshit, blah, blah. Whatever." Nagato walked over to the window. "What of it?"

"It's pretty important that you follow the Data Overmind's rules, don't you think?"

"Says your mom," Nagato chuckled at her own joke. "Seriously? I think it's a joke."

"W-why do you say that?" Asahina bravely asked. This side of Nagato was making her very nervous.

"Haruhi already gets everything she wants by whining about it. If she wants snow, dammit, that weather report that says a hundred percent sunshine will be damn wrong. She's such a brat and I hate that the whole world seems to revolve around her. That wish of hers for Tanabata? 'I wish for the world to revolve around me'? Really? Screw Orihime and Hikoboshi; it already does!"

"So you do remember the events of before this weird transformation of yours?" Kyon asked.

"Of course I do! I was granted these wicked powers and you think I would have lost my memories?"

"Then why are you acting this way? Did Haruhi change your personality because she thought you were boring?"

"Maybe. But whatever happened, it's awesome as hell. I feel like breaking some rules. I was tired of being such a shut-in and not talking. I mean, that endless summer? Those bastards called the Overmind told me not to say anything and to deal with it. 'Your job is to observe' is what they kept telling me. Five hundred ninety four years of the same shit! I don't know how I didn't explode. The Overmind must have put some sorta weird 'don't let Nagato go crazy' app in my system or something. Y'know, 'cause there's an app for that. I'm not a damn robot without feelings. And whatever happened, whether it was Haruhi or not, I feel…_free!_ Ugh, I feel so alive now. I love it. Oh, and I'd like to say that humans are such _stupid_ creatures. How do you deal, Kyon?"

Kyon immediately thought of Taniguchi. "Not sure…"

"Nagato, I understand what you're talking about, but this is really serious…" Koizumi said. "I don't think it would be in your best interest to disobey the Data Overmind…"

"Whatever. I don't see them fixing Haruhi. If I've got all these awesome powers, why can't I make it to where Haruhi doesn't have her powers? Can I do that? Wait, _can _I do that…?" Nagato glanced at her hands and asked, like she wasn't sure if she could or not.

Could she?

"Nagato…"

"Shut up, pretty boy. Aren't you tired of dealing with Haruhi? I mean, you have to go risk your life fighting the human-looking blue Godzilla when she's in a bad mood. Come on now. That's a little ridiculous." Nagato flipped her hair back. "And you, crybaby," she addressed Asahina and she squeaked. "I don't know what your deal is. Classified information my ass. Stop being all mysterious and actually do something useful. Stop letting Haruhi step all over you."

Kyon didn't like Nagato putting Asahina down, but in a way, she _was _right. Nagato was actually on Kyon's train of thought concerning Haruhi. He hated how demanding she was, and how the world _did _seem to revolve around her.

Was this what Nagato has been keeping locked up in her thoughts? Or was this something else entirely? Was Haruhi really responsible for this outspoken transformation of Nagato? If she was, Nagato didn't seem to know.

And it seemed impossible that the Data Overmind had a hand in this, considering Nagato's attitude concerning them.

Whatever it was, it needed to be fixed. Kyon felt bad if Nagato actually felt this way about the Data Overmind, especially if what she said about them and the endless summer ordeal was true, but…he couldn't let her go against the Data Overmind. If she did, she was in danger of being erased by them, and Kyon couldn't stand the thought of losing her. She'd saved him too many times before, and now it was his time to save her.

"Nagato, I don't think you should go against the Data Overmind," was the only reasonable thing Kyon could say at the moment. "I think we all can agree that Haruhi is annoying to deal with, but maybe we should just leave it alone and not try to upset her. Y'know, for fear of her ending the world?"

Nagato scowled at him. "Really, Kyon? That's how you feel? After all I've dealt with? The Data Overmind is a joke. If they want to do something about Haruhi, then they should come down here and do something themselves. If they don't like what I think, they can suck it. I'm doing what I want, and…well, I haven't decided what to do yet, but it will be exciting," she smirked again. "I promise."

Koizumi, Asahina, and Kyon couldn't help but stare at her as she grabbed her schoolbag and flung it over her shoulder. "Been nice talking to you guys. And if you guys decide that you're ready to set Haruhi straight, then let me know. I'll figure something out and we'll put this awesome plan in action!" She threw open the door. "Later!" she then stepped out.

Koizumi sighed heavily. "This presents a serious problem…"

"You don't say," Kyon said sarcastically.

Sure, they got their questions answered. Nagato was still an alien. Nagato was probably changed by Haruhi. Nagato was still under the rule of the Data Overmind.

And Nagato wanted to break the Data Overmind's rules.

Kyon remembered Ryoko Asakura getting erased for her incompetence and her going against the Data Overmind.

He had to stop Nagato. Sure, maybe it would be nice to put Haruhi in her place, but he couldn't let Nagato hurt her or whatever she planned on doing.

Kyon turned to Asahina and Koizumi.

"We've got to stop her and change her back to normal as soon as possible. Before she hurts Haruhi, others, and…herself."


	4. The Warning of Ayame Sakurakoji

**Okay so I thought about it…and I think I'm going to add an OC. I don't like adding original characters, but I think in this situation it might have been deemed necessary. Who else is going to speak on behalf of the Data Overmind? I refused to bring Asakura back 'cause…I didn't think it would make sense. And who knows about Tsuruya and Emiri Kimidori's characters, if I even decide to bring them in the story later on for whatever reason.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Four: The Warning of Ayame Sakurakoji<strong>

Kyon went home that night feeling…exhausted.

Nagato's attitude wasn't entirely hard to handle for him. If he had a one-on-one conversation with Nagato, he felt like the conversation might go well. He and Nagato saw eye-to-eye on a lot of issues concerning Haruhi.

But, as much as he hated to go against her…if Nagato planned on potentially harming Haruhi, he had to stop it, not just because of the Data Overmind but because it wasn't the right thing to do.

But what _did _Nagato have in mind for dealing with Haruhi? She seemed to want to put her in her place, but it seemed that no matter how rude Nagato was to Haruhi, Haruhi just wasn't getting the memo. So that must have been where the force tactic would come in.

Whatever it was, Kyon had to stop it. But how? He knew that Nagato's ordeal with the Data Overmind and the endless summer had really bothered her. I mean, it would drive any normal person insane if the had to repeat the same two weeks over and over again…if they had _remembered _any of it. Sure, every person on Earth went through the same two week cycle, but Nagato was the only person to remember all of it.

All five hundred ninety four years of it. Nagato can do a lot, but that's way too exhausting even for an alien.

And the Data Overmind only job for her is to observe. They must have seen the same things that Nagato saw. What did they think about the whole endless summer ordeal? Did they even care about how Nagato felt? No, because they created Nagato to not express emotion.

And now that Nagato had this personality adjustment…she was going to rebel, whether they liked it or not.

Kyon was having a hard time deciding what to do. He had to stop it regardless, but now it was up to him, Koizumi, and Asahina to figure out how and return Nagato back to normal.

Which in turn might need some persuading from Haruhi, who, without knowing, changed Nagato in the first place.

Sigh…

Kyon lay in his bed, after having piled up more stress from his little sister bugging him, and spent some time thinking.

_How much time do I have to fix this problem? _Kyon asked himself. _How long until the Data Overmind decides that enough is enough?_

Without even meaning to, Kyon suddenly dozed off.

* * *

><p>…<p>

"Kyon, wake up."

"Huh?" Kyon opened his eyes and looked around. The clock on his bedside table told him that it was a little past two in the morning. Who was waking him up this early? It was dark in his room so he couldn't tell. But he did notice that his window was open, the breeze puffing up his curtains. He didn't remember opening his window. Hell, he didn't even remember falling asleep.

"Who's there?" he asked, not sure if he had been hearing things.

"Here, this should help." A female's voice that he didn't recognize startled him. Then his desk lamp was switched on.

A girl of average height was standing across the room from him. She had long black hair and piercing blue eyes, and Kyon instantly wondered if she was Japanese. Then he realized, well, hey, there's a random girl standing in his room at two in the morning. He blinked.

…

"Um, hello?" Kyon wasn't sure what to say.

"Hi," she said simply. She didn't look too happy to be saying it though. She almost had a Haruhi-like scowl on her face, although maybe not as threatening. She was pretty cute.

"Uh, are you going to introduce yourself?" Kyon asked. "Maybe…tell me why you're in my room in the middle of the might? I'm not sure if my mom would approve…"

"Fine. I'm Ayame Sakurakoji," she addressed herself. "I was sent here to talk to you, and possibly for other reasons. I haven't been given any other orders other than to speak with you."

Sent here. Orders. She wasn't alone in this.

"Sent here by whom?"

"The Data Integration Thought Entity. Better known by you as the Data Overmind."

Friend of Nagato?

…Did Nagato have other friends besides the members of the SOS Brigade?

"So…you're an alien just like Nagato?"

"I am an artificial human in similar design to Yuki Nagato. In short, I am an alien as humans may call them."

"Sure…"

The Data Overmind was sending someone to talk to Kyon? He wasn't to sure if that was a good thing or not. If they had to send someone to him, more than likely to talk about Nagato, that couldn't have been a good thing. But maybe this was a saving grace. Instead of just deleting Nagato's existence, maybe this girl would tell him how to help him fix her. Maybe Nagato did mean something to the Data Overmind…

"I'm here to tell you that if Yuki Nagato goes against direct orders from the Data Integration Thought Entity, Yuki Nagato will be erased and cease to exist."

…Maybe not.

"I think I already knew that!" Kyon yelled. He quickly covered his mouth. He didn't want to wake up the house, especially to discover there was an unknown girl in Kyon's room. "Can you tell me something I don't know?" He whispered. "Maybe something that can help me fix her!"

"Yuki Nagato was altered and corrupted by the power of Haruhi Suzumiya," she explained, though Kyon had figured out that much as well. "Because Yuki Nagato is an artificial human and was not created to express emotion, in addition to Haruhi Suzumiya wishing for species such as her and me to exist, Haruhi Suzumiya was able to mend her personality to whatever she wished. Yuki Nagato's ability to constantly express this bitter emotion has forced her to make decisions outside of the Data Integration Thought Entity's control. She can choose not to obey the Data Integration Thought Entity if she pleases, which is not something she was programmed to do. Ryoko Asakura was a faulty creation that disobeyed direct orders from the Data Integration Thought Entity and was deleted as a result."

"Sure, but Nagato didn't have a choice! Haruhi's the one who changed her, talk to her." Kyon argued.

"Haruhi Suzumiya wished for Yuki Nagato to express this bitter emotion, which the Data Integration Thought Entity was debating whether to leave Yuki Nagato as Haruhi Suzumiya intended or to try to return Yuki Nagato back to normal. The Data Integration Thought Entity chose the former option at first, but once they tried communicating with Yuki Nagato she ignored their orders. The Data Integration Thought Entity was worried that if they didn't have full control of Yuki Nagato's decisions that she would go against them. The Data Integration Thought Entity didn't want to delete Yuki Nagato immediately as she was their closest connection to Haruhi Suzumiya. So after some thought, the Data Integration Thought Entity decided to send me to try to get you to return Yuki Nagato back to normal."

Five. She said "Data Thought Integration Entity" five times. She said "they" and "them" a few times, why couldn't she just say that? She talked so much like Nagato did.

Used to. Kyon figured Nagato was different now.

Back to the matter at hand, Kyon shook his head. "Okay, so now I know exactly what happened here. That clears some more things up now. But that still doesn't freaking tell me how to fix all of this!" Kyon was always left the responsibility to figure everything out on his own. With some hints, he guessed.

"You'll need to get Haruhi Suzumiya to revert Yuki Nagato back to how she was originally created." Sakurakoji answered. Kyon smacked his forehead.

"Ugh…whatever. If you don't have anything else to say, maybe you should leave." Kyon didn't want to sound rude, but she just kept repeating the same thing.

Suddenly, Sakurakoji's eyes widened. She paused for a moment before talking again.

"Kyon…" she started. "I have just been ordered to…"

Kyon waited for her to finish her sentence. She shook her head.

"I'll leave," she walked over to the open window.

"Wait!" Kyon stopped her. "You've been ordered to what?"

Sakurakoji glanced at him, her ice-blue eyes gleaming in the dim light. "You'll see." She began to climb out of the window.

That's when Kyon jumped out of bed and grabbed Sakurakoji's wrist, preventing her from leaving.

"You better not delete her or I will get Haruhi to destroy the Data Intelligence Drought Entirely!" Kyon threatened, so frustrated he mixed up the name of Nagato's creator. He didn't care. He was _not _going to let them erase her. If they did…

They didn't want to know what he would do. Maybe he would tell Haruhi the truth again. About Koizumi, Asahina, Ryoko, _everything!_ He was too frustrated right now to think straight.

Sakurakoji gave him a look that the original Nagato always had on her face: monotone. "We won't. For now."

As long as there was more time, Kyon didn't care. He let Sakurakoji go and she flew out of the window, landing softly on the ground, considering Kyon's room was two stories up. She walked off into the night.

Kyon watched her as she disappeared, then sighed and put his face in his hands.

_Nagato…I won't let you get deleted by them. _He thought. _I'll protect you and fix this whole situation. I promise…_

As he closed the window, turned off the desk lamp, and climbed back in his bed, a few snowflakes began to fall from the sky.


	5. The Excitement of Haruhi Suzumiya

**Chapter Five: The Excitement of Haruhi Suzumiya**

Of course. It just _had _to snow like Haruhi wanted it to. Kyon hoped she was happy.

He sighed as he entered the classroom only to see Haruhi jump up from her desk, nearly knocking the chair over.

"KYON!" she yelled unnecessarily loud. Everyone in the room stopped their conversations to focus on who Haruhi was addressing. Kyon sighed once more.

"Haruhi, must you be so-?"

"No time! I have something to show you!" she rushed through the throng of students in her way toward the door, grabbed Kyon's wrist with a little too much force, and dragged him along in the hallway.

"Ouch! Haruhi, what is-?"

"Just shut up!"

Kyon was surprised that Haruhi hadn't mentioned the sudden appearance of snow, but maybe there was something more exciting to her than that? What could have been more exciting than her getting what she wanted? Oh wait, she got that all the time. Maybe she was just used to things happening her way.

So…was this something she hadn't expected to happen?

Kyon was thinking far too much about it considering Haruhi was probably dragging him along to show him anyway.

Suddenly, Haruhi stopped and let go of Kyon's arm. He looked at where they were located.

Class 1-4. Nagato's classroom.

"Why are we-?"

"There's another transfer student," Haruhi interrupted for the third time, "in this very room!"

In November? Kyon knew that Koizumi's transfer in May had been deemed strange and worth looking into by Haruhi, but now there was another transfer student? It was pretty late in the school year for that.

So that's what was more exciting than the snow.

"Okay. I'm going to guess that you think he or she is some kind of mysterious being and you want to invite him or her to join our club," Kyon rolled his eyes.

"I heard she was a girl. And of course! Koizumi's not as mysterious as I first thought, but I heard this girl doesn't even look Japanese!"

"Huh? Is she Japanese?"

"She has a Japanese name, but she doesn't _look _Japanese." Haruhi remarked.

"Okay…"

"Plus, she has the same class as Yuki. Maybe she could help us convince her!"

_Not if _you _were the one to ask her…_Kyon thought.

"Okay! Let's meet her!" Haruhi threw the door with so much force, Kyon was surprised the glass didn't break. "Transfer student! Come hither!"

_Hither? _Kyon shook his head at her odd choice of words a glanced around the room, looking for a girl that supposedly didn't look Japanese.

Then he saw her. The girl with black hair and bright blue eyes from last night. He gasped.

Ayame Sakurakoji.

She slowly turned her head, just like everyone else in the room did, and stood up.

"I'm the transfer student," she replied, but her voice and composure were different from when she spoke to Kyon yesterday…or early this morning, rather. She was more like Asahina in the way she spoke: quiet and cute.

"I wanna talk to you," Haruhi said simply. "Come here."

Sakurakoji hesitated for a moment, looking around the classroom like she wanted someone to speak up, then nodded her head and walked over to Haruhi. She shot a quick glance at Kyon—changing her expression to the one Kyon had been familiar with from last night for a split second—before stepping out of the room completely. Haruhi threw her arm around Sakurakoji's shoulder and began immediately talking to her about how she should join Haruhi's club and what it was about.

While Haruhi was spieling about that, Kyon glanced in the classroom and noticed Nagato facing him from her desk. Nagato pointed at Kyon then silently ordered him to come over to her. He did so and rushed over to her.

"Yes?"

Nagato grabbed Kyon's necktie and pulled him close enough for her to whisper in his ear. "The Overmind sent her to watch me."

"Do you know her?"

"Of course. They made her not long after they made me. She had different orders to remain with the Data Overmind and never came to Earth. But now she's here! They must have sent her to watch over me!"

Kyon wasn't sure whether or not to tell her that he had already been acquainted with Sakurakoji. He felt like he shouldn't keep that information from her, but didn't know what Nagato would do if Kyon had told her everything that Sakurakoji had told him. He decided that he should discuss it with Koizumi and Asahina first.

"M-maybe, but don't be too worried about it. She could just be here to observe just like you." Kyon suggested.

Nagato paused for a moment. "Yeah, maybe you're right," she let go of his tie. "The Overmind won't tell me anything anymore, so who knows? She won't learn much."

_I think they already know enough…_Kyon thought to himself. _They're just trying to get me to return you to normal so that they don't have to delete you…_

Nagato eyed him curiously for a moment. "What is it?"

"N-nothing…" Kyon chuckled, though it wasn't sincere. "Class is starting soon. I should get back…"

"She'll get Ayame to join." Nagato made a sour face, the pronoun referring to Haruhi. "Geez."

Kyon frowned, but there wasn't anything he could do at the moment. Sakurakoji would more than likely join. He wasn't expecting her to show up at school, but now that she was here it seemed that her orders were to keep a close direct eye on Nagato.

Regardless, the Data Overmind didn't have immediate plans to terminate Nagato. At first, Sakurakoji's job was just to tell Kyon to convince Haruhi to (unknowingly) revert Nagato back to normal, and now she was here observing all of it directly. What exactly are the Data Overmind's real goals? They seem to keep changing their minds inconsistently. It wasn't helping Kyon determine how much time he had to return Nagato to her usual self.

But with Sakurakoji here, there was a chance. Kyon would have to keep thinking positively.

When Kyon stepped back into the hallway, Haruhi was beaming.

"Kyon! Ayame here said she would join!"

_On a first-name basis already? _Kyon sighed. Probably not by choice. "She will?" he tried to act surprised.

"Yep!" she smiled. "Your first meeting will be after school today! Yuki's in your class, she'll she you where to go so become good friends with her!"

Sakurakoji nodded her head. "Sure." She returned to class.

"Wow, I'm so excited! First Yuki does a complete personality flip, and now we got a new student to join our club! Oh, and it snowed, so we can venture up north to find the Abominable Snowman soon!" Haruhi spun in a circle. "This is great!"

"Yeah…" Kyon sighed. Everything that was making Haruhi happy was just exhausting him.

Life was cruel in a way.

* * *

><p>"I'm Ayame Sakurakoji," the transfer student bowed after introducing herself to the club. This was the second introduction for Kyon.<p>

"What a mouthful of a last name." Haruhi said after gulping down all of the tea Asahina had for her. "That's why I'm gonna call you Ayame."

"Okay," Sakurakoji responded. "Thank you for inviting me into your club."

"No problem!" Haruhi stood up from her chair and trotted over to Nagato. "Did you get to know Ayame well, Yuki?"

"I've known her for a day," Nagato answered without looking at Haruhi. "So, no."

"Aww, I'm sure we'll all become good friends within a few days!" Haruhi said. "And hey! It's been snowing since last night! If we get enough snow soon, maybe this weekend we can begin our journey to look for the Snowman! Doesn't that sound awesome!"

"Snowman…?" Sakurakoji tilted her head in confusion.

"Oh, yeah. I'll explain it to you, Ayame!"

Haruhi spent the next ten minutes explaining her plan to take the SOS Brigade to a mountainous area up north to prove the existence of the Abominable Snowman. If it snowed enough, she told everyone to pack their bags and be prepared to leave on Friday. Well, regardless of whether it snowed enough or not she seemed determined to make the trip up there this weekend anyway.

"Sound good?" Haruhi asked.

"Sure." Koizumi said.

Asahina nodded.

"Sounds fine to me," Sakurakoji responded.

"Whatever." Kyon crossed it arms.

"Sounds stupid," Nagato huffed.

"Great!" Haruhi apparently either didn't hear Nagato's answer or didn't care. "Then I'll end the meeting early so we can all get ready! Glad you're now a member of the SOS Brigade, Ayame!" Haruhi patted her shoulder before grabbing her bag and flying out the door.

…An awkward silence filled the room.

Nagato finally broke the silence. "Okay, Ayame, I don't know why you're here, but you don't need to be. So leave."

Sakurakoji returned to the same monotone expression that she had when she was talking to Kyon last night. "I cannot do that."

Nagato flung out of her chair. "Well, you better figure out how you can do that before I do it for you!"

Koizumi spoke up. "Nagato, I think—"

"Shut up!" Nagato barked, her expression frightening Asahina. "Don't start giving me some psychobabble bullshit!"

"You know that I cannot leave, and seeing me should be a relief to you." Sakurakoji stood up and began gathering her things.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean? I'm not happy to see you! If you haven't noticed, I'm rather pissed!" Nagato began to clench her fists.

Kyon noticed.

"I am basically your warning from the Data Integration Thought Entity that you need to find a way to revert back to your original programmed personality before they decide to terminate you." Sakurakoji explained.

"Oh really?" Nagato replied snidely. "They want me to do that? If you didn't notice, before this I didn't have much of a personality. In fact, I didn't have one at all! I wasn't allowed to! So now you can go back and tell them to shove it up their-!"

"Nagato, stop!" Kyon jumped up and threw her hand around Nagato's mouth from behind her. "Please!"

Nagato flailed for a moment before Kyon realized that she could probably seriously hurt him in order to get him off of her. But Nagato suddenly stopped and just glared at Sakurakoji.

"Heed their words," Sakurakoji turned and walked out of the room.

Kyon let go, in which Nagato shoved him aside. "_Heed their words,_" she said mockingly. "Whatever." She grabbed her schoolbag and stomped out of the clubroom without even saying goodbye.

Asahina was still shaking. "That was…scary."

"Yes," Koizumi agreed. "It'd be one thing if Nagato was just a human. But she still has her powers, which I'm guessing the Data Overmind is letting her keep for now to observe if she abuses the use for them. When she's mad, she could do some destructive damage. Maybe even destroy the world like Suzumiya can!"

Kyon put his hands in front of his face. The Data Overmind was giving her a chance to fix herself. Or rather they were giving _Kyon _a chance to fix her. And with Sakurakoji here, he wasn't sure if that made things easier for him or not. It seemed like a race against time at this point. Or a ticking time bomb.

But there was one main thing that he had to do if he wanted to change all of this. One person he absolutely had to talk to. The one who could (unknowingly) fix it all.

Haruhi.


	6. The Discoveries of Yuki, Itsuki and Kyon

**To answer Andmeuths question, I was basing Ayame closer to Kimidori than Asakura. I'm not the best with OCs, but I just kinda added Ayame in because I needed another person from the DTIE that wasn't already a character.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Six: The Discoveries of Yuki Nagato, Itsuki Koizumi, and Kyon<strong>

"Aaaannd…we're here!"

Kyon wasn't sure how this was possible.

There was a cabin all the way up this mountainous forest.

Great.

It was Friday. The SOS Brigade had taken a train a few miles up north to a small town near where this supposed Abominable Snowman has been spotted. Supposedly.

Before the group of six had headed up the mountain, some townspeople had warned Haruhi of the dangers of the mountain and seeking out the Snowman; such as, well…it a mountain, it was dangerous anyway. But of course Haruhi ignored the warning a decided to trek the path toward the mountain anyway.

The rest of the group expected nothing less from her. But Kyon was not expecting a conveniently placed abandoned cabin out here where no one should be.

Great…again.

"Perfect! We can spend the night here!" Haruhi shouted, rushing toward the cabin, flipping up the snow on the ground.

"What the hell were you going to do if this cabin _wasn't _here? Huh, Haruhi?" Nagato scoffed. "We've traveled a long way and it's starting to get dark. If we hadn't of found this, what would we have done?"

"Oh, that doesn't matter, Yuki!" Haruhi smiled. "It's here, and we don't have to think 'what if?' Isn't that great?"

Nagato balled her hand into a fist. "I swear I'm going to hit her…"

"That won't be tolerated, Yuki Nagato." Sakurakoji said simply.

"Maybe I'll hit you," Nagato threatened. "And will you stop calling me by my whole name? It's annoying."

"What would you prefer?"

"For you to go away."

"I'm not going back. Not until you have returned to normal."

"If I'm screwed up, why don't I screw _you_ up!"

"Nagato!" Kyon grabbed Nagato's shoulders from behind her, preventing her from leaping forward and pummeling Sakurakoji. "Stop! Please."

Nagato gritted her teeth so she couldn't say anything else. She shrugged Kyon off of her and stormed through the thick snow toward the cabin.

"…This is going to be a long weekend…" Kyon sighed.

"Kyon, at some point very soon, I think you should try talking to Haruhi…" Koizumi suggested.

"Why do I have to talk to her?" Kyon questioned. "Why don't one of you guys do it? Seriously? You gotta leave everything up to me…"

"K-Kyon…" Asahina spoke quietly. "Suzumiya is more inclined to listen to you than any of us…"

"Asahina's right," Koizumi said.

Kyon frowned. "Whatever. Right now, we should figure out what we're going to do about dinner 'cause I'm starving."

"Yes. It's also starting to get pretty cold," Koizumi pointed out. "Let's head inside."

Everyone nodded and headed inside the cabin.

* * *

><p>"Phew! We've had a long day, huh?" Haruhi asked as she plopped down on the couch.<p>

The cabin was small but cozy. There were two rooms; the main living room area with a couch, a fireplace, and refrigerator and the bedroom area, which had a queen size bed and a ladder leading up to a very small second floor with another queen sized mattress. By the looks of this cabin, someone may have possibly visited here or even lived here for a time. If that was the case, though, it was obvious that no one had been here for awhile. Dust blanketed the place and it was quite stuffy. Asahina decided to crack open the only window in the living room. It was cold, but the air was nice to breathe in.

"Well," Koizumi said as he sifted through the group's bag of food. "We've got some canned food and some ramen cups. We might be able to look for some firewood…"

"I don't feel like getting any firewood," Haruhi sighed. "If you guys want to go get some, be my guest."

"Lazy ass…" Nagato muttered. "We should probably get some for the fireplace, considering it will probably get really cold in here at night. I'll go look for some if someone wants to come with me."

"Take the guys with you," Haruhi said.

"If you're not going, why are you even nominating people to go fetch some firewood?" Nagato folded her arms. "I don't think so."

"I-it's okay, Nagato," Kyon said. "Koizumi and I will help you out."

"…Thanks." Nagato zipped up her jacket and opened the door. "Let's hurry before it gets too dark."

* * *

><p>Kyon, Nagato, and Koizumi were walking back into the forest, carefully stepping through the foot-deep snow. Nagato carried a flashlight, considering the dense forest made it seem a lot darker than it actually was.<p>

It had been silent the whole way through the woods so far. Kyon figured this was a good time to talk to Nagato while neither Haruhi nor Sakurakoji was around.

"Nagato… What are you going to do now that Sakurakoji is in the picture?"

"Maybe punch her lights out."

"Nagato! You shouldn't do that…"

"Maybe not. But I want to. She has no reason to be here."

Kyon wasn't sure what else to say. Sakurakoji was here to watch over Nagato, but when would the Data Overmind suddenly give up and just decide enough is enough with Nagato? It didn't make sense and it was frustrating him. He needed to discuss this with Haruhi soon, but figuring how to go about that was a whole other ordeal.

But as for Nagato…if Kyon were to find a way to return Nagato to normal, how would she take it? She wouldn't be able to express her feelings about the situation and she wouldn't be able to go against it either, if she were to begin following the rules of the Data Overmind again.

And Kyon would feel terrible for that. Putting Nagato in a situation where she wouldn't be able to put up a fight.

…And Nagato could do _anything._

Kyon figured that when the time comes, he would discuss it with her wholeheartedly. And hopefully, she wouldn't be _too _upset with him.

Kyon frowned. This was rough.

Once Koizumi and Kyon found a sufficient amount of logs and sticks to use for a fire, they picked them up and began walking back to the cabin.

Suddenly, Nagato flinched.

"What the hell was that?" she spun around, flashing the flashlight behind her. Kyon and Koizumi paused.

"What is what, Nagato?" Koizumi asked.

"I just heard some shuffling or something behind me."

Just then, all three of them heard a low, growling noise. And it wasn't their stomachs.

"What the _hell_…?"

"C'mon, Nagato!" Kyon grabbed Nagato's wrist with his free hand. "Let's go!"

Now they were running through the forest, Kyon dropping some wood in the process. The snow was making it very difficult to run, and Kyon almost tripped, but Nagato held onto his arm to keep him balanced.

"There's the cabin! Up there!" Kyon said. They finally reached the wide area outside the forest where the cabin was and stopped to catch their breath before walking inside. If Haruhi saw them out of breath, she would be curious as to why they had been running, which in turn would cause them to explain themselves. With Haruhi being Haruhi, she would want to go check it out. This was not the time to go seeking…_whatever _that was out.

"W-what…was that?" Koizumi asked, still gasping for breath.

"I-I don't know…" Kyon said. "But if I were to take a guess…"

"It wasn't human," Nagato said. "Or animal."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Kyon was just going to say a bear. Was it something else?

"I mean exactly what I said. Whatever that was wasn't either a human or an animal, but rather…both."


End file.
